The (non-)territorialization of "Kurdistan" in the Middle East between 1919 and 1990: A critical geopolitical approach

This thesis analyses the reasons of why a certain "Kurdistan" could not be established as a geopolitical entity within the Middle East between the years 1919 and 1990. By using critical geopolitics as the theoretical framework, the thesis focuses on the effects of continuous deterritorialization and reterritorialization of the Kurdistan as a geopolitical entity as well as civilizational and ideological geopolitical discourses developed by four states in the region, being Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. A threefold argument is proposed to explain why an independent or an autonomous Kurdistan could not be formed at the chosen time frame. The internal factors underline the traditional tribal and more recent territorial divisions among the Kurdish tribes preventing the Kurds to establish a common geopolitical discourse describing a particular and territorially-defined "Kurdistan". The external factors emphasize the policies and geopolitical discourses developed by states to preserve their territorial integrity and to prevent any separatist tendency within their own states. Finally, the third set of factors cross-linked internal and external factors. It focuses on the cooperative and conflictual transversal connections between sovereign states and Kurdish political movements. Accordingly, some sovereign states tended to cooperate with the Kurdish groups of rival states in a way to undermine the power of the Kurdish groups within itself and some Kurdish political movements tended to cooperate with the neighboring state to undermine the power of the home state. All in all, the period between 1919 and 1990 witnessed the failure of the projects to establish an autonomous if not an independent Kurdistan. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kürdistan, Türkiye, İran, Irak, Suriye